


Voluntary Recruitment

by GemmaRose



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, Gen, Kid Fic, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-20 21:37:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21288572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: When Shanks is eleven years old, a ship falls from the sky. And what’s a pirate to do at that point but investigate?
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks & Buggy
Kudos: 59





	Voluntary Recruitment

When Shanks is eleven years old, a ship falls from the sky. It had been a perfectly normal day up until that point, breezy and overcast, and he jumps at the massive noise the boat makes hitting the water. The ship is huge, way bigger than any at the little dock on the other side of the island where fishing boats and trade ships tie up, but what makes his eyes go wide is the flag it flies. A moustached skull over two crossed bones.

“Pirates!” he yells, turning and bolting down the shore to where he left Buggy poking around for crabs. “Buggy! Buggy there’s pirates!!”

“Pirates?” his friend straightens up as he approaches, a frown on his sunburnt face. Shanks skids to a stop panting.

“They fell- out of the sky.” he explains, pushing himself upright to free his hands from his knees for a wide gesture. “**Huge** boat.”

“How in the seven blues would a boat get up in the sky?” Buggy asks, and Shanks rolls his eyes.

“You’re missing the point, Buggy!” he grabs his friend by the arms and shakes him. “Pirates!! They’re gonna be coming here!”

Shanks sees the realization dawning on Buggy’s face, and the moment it crashes into abject horror. “We gotta hide!” he screeches, and Shanks doesn’t stop him from pulling away and sprinting inland, simply following at a less frantic pace.

“We don’t know, they may be Peace Mains.” he points out, and Buggy slows to a stop.

“You want to spy on them.” his friend says, turning to face Shanks with a skeptical look.

“Yeah!” Shanks beams. “No way to learn pirating better than from real pirates, right?”

“I knew there was a reason I kept you around.” Buggy laughs, slinging an arm around Shanks’s shoulders.

“Last time you said it was because if you weren’t watching my ass I’d be dead ten times over.” Shanks teases.

“That too.” Buggy elbows him in the side, hard. “But when you’re not being an idiot, you’re not half bad at smarty-pants stuff.”

Shanks beams, and quickly raises an arm to fend off Buggy’s answering swats. “That wasn’t a compliment you nitwit!”

Shanks just laughs and ducks away from the next swing, starting back to town at a light jog. The pirates will anchor offshore and row in, definitely, and he doesn’t want to miss a second of it.

\---

The pirates look exactly like he expects, for the most part. The captain has a moustache matching his jolly roger, a straw hat with a red ribbon, and a long darker red coat on his shoulders. That’s how Shanks can tell he’s the captain. The rest of the crew are just... ordinary people.

“That captain guy is so gaudy.” Buggy sniggers at his side, crouched behind a wall of barrels with him to watch the pirates meet the mayor without any of the adults telling them to shove off.

“I think he looks kinda cool.” Shanks argues, and Buggy shrugs.

“The coat and the hat don’t match, though.” Buggy whispers a few moments later. “He needs a fancier hat.” Shanks slugs him.

“What business do you have here?” Magistrate Andel asks, stepping forward and puffing out his chest. Shanks sniggers at the sight of the ink stain on the man’s jacket, the result of a prank gone particularly right last week.

“We’ll be on our way soon enough.” the captain laughs, smiling wide. “Just need a week or so to fix up our rig and do some repairs.”

“The cannons work just fine, though.” the pirate just behind the captain’s shoulder says, hooking his thumbs in his pockets. “So don’t go calling the Marines unless you want a bloodbath.”

“Of course not!” the magistrate blusters, waving his hands frantically.

“Coward.” Buggy mutters, and Shanks nods. The grown ups are just gonna give the pirates what they ask for instead of fighting to keep what’s theirs. They always do, it’s so lame.

“And I suppose you’ll be willing to provide us with some line, tar, and canvas?” the man at the captain’s shoulder asks. The magistrate nods again, his head bobbling up and down like mad.

“Don’t think you’re getting any free drinks out of me, though.” Miss Fayza scowls, crossing her arms and squaring her already very square jaw. The captain laughs, a shesheshe sound that fills the air and makes Shanks grin despite himself.

“Hey Mister Pirate!” he calls, standing from behind the barrels and resolutely ignoring Buggy’s hisses that he get _down_. “What’s your name?”

It barely lasts a moment, but the look of absolute confusion that crosses the man’s face is worth every second of scolding he’ll get later for spying on this grown-ups-only meeting. “Roger.” the captain grins, eyes dark and shining. “The name’s Roger, and you better remember it.”

\---

A week passes pretty fast, when you’re spending every day spying on pirates. They’re not in town all day, of course, but Buggy’s spyglass is good enough the two of them can take turns watching what’s happening on the boat anchored offshore. Or, well, they _said_ they’d take turns but it’s mostly been the two of them grabbing the spyglass from each other whenever they get bored. Which is kinda like taking turns, only with more elbowing and scuffling and biting involved.

“Hey, they’re getting in their rowboat again!” Buggy pushes himself up, eyes shining.

“Already?” Shanks looks up at the sky. It’s not even noon yet.

“What are you asking questions for, dumbass?” Buggy bops him with the spyglass, sliding it shut in the process. “Let’s go meet them!”

Shanks rubs his head with a cross scowl, but follows Buggy down the hill towards town anyways. He _does_ wanna talk to the pirates one last time before they leave. He's got a question for the captain in particular.

He hasn't got terribly long to think on it before they're leaving the sparsely wooded fields and headed into town, where all the grown-ups are hiding inside because they're big dumb scaredy-cats. The pirates aren't even doing anything piratey, just drinking at Fayza's Pub and singing the same sort of songs the fishermen sing. At least, Shanks is pretty sure it's the same sort of song. The lyrics coming through the windows as he and Buggy sneak along the side of the building are all different though.

Buggy sticks his head up over the edge of the window, squinting through the smudged glass, and Shanks elbows him in the side. "Let's just go in!"

“What? Are you crazy?!” Buggy hisses. Shanks grins instead of answering. “We'd get in trouble!”

“So? We're pirates, we're _always_ in trouble." Shanks stands, and Buggy isn't fast enough to stop him as he skips backwards towards the front door.

“Shanks!” his friend hisses, and he gives a jaunty little wave as he turns the corner, spinning on his heel to face forward and approach the doors. Buggy will come in after him as soon as he sees it's alright. Or if he sees Shanks in trouble, probably. It's a toss-up on that one.

“Hi, Captain Roger!” he calls as he walks in, and the captain turns in his seat to look at him.

“You're the brat from the dock.” he says after a moment, and grins around the thick bone sticking out the corner of his mouth like some grown-ups do with cigars. “Not scared of the big bad pirates?” he mocks, to laughter from his crew.

“Nope.” Shanks boosts himself onto the bar stool next to the pirate and fishes out a crumpled bill and handful of sandy change from his pocket. Darn, not enough for a meal. He stuffs it back in his shorts and turns face to the pirate captain fully. No time like the present. “‘Cuz I'm a pirate too.” he declares, jabbing his thumb at his chest.

All of Roger's pirates think this is the funniest thing they've ever heard, apparently, because the bar breaks out in uproarious laughter. Shanks scowls, but refuses to cross his arms like the child these pirates think he is. “Is that so, brat?” Roger asks with a laugh, and Shanks nods.

"My friend Buggy and I, we've been waiting for some real pirates to show up here since Forever." he swings one of his feet, bouncing a bare heel on the leg of the stool. "And you're leaving soon since your boat's all fixed now, right?"

"That's the shape of it, yeah." Roger nods, still smiling but evidently a little lost. Grown-ups are so weird sometimes.

"So I wanted to ask, can we join your crew?" Shanks leans forwards, gripping the edges of the stool on either side of his legs as he grins wide.

There's a beat of silence, then Roger starts guffawing, his shesheshe laughter filling the bar over all others. A man with a funny looking beard sits down on Shanks's other side and rests a hand on his shoulder with a chuckle. "Usually he's pestering people to join us, not the other way 'round." the pirate explains, and Shanks nods.

"So, can we?" he asks, leaning forward as Roger wipes his eyes.

"Can we what?" Buggy asks, hopping onto the lower rung of Shanks's stool and grabbing the bar with one hand to keep them both from falling.

"Sure, why not." Roger says, and Shanks hears at least a dozen spit takes happen at once. "You two will make fine chore boys."

"**WHAT?!**" Buggy screeches as he recoils, and Shanks laughs until his friend's flailing unbalances the stool they're both on, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Better wake up early tomorrow, we leave at sunup."

"As if I'd follow a captain who- who-” Buggy stumbles backwards, scrambling for an excuse not to join, because he’s just Like That sometimes. “Who wears such a tacky hat!”

This sets the pirates off on a fresh round of laughter, and as he picks himself up Shanks catches Roger mouthing the insult as he touches the brim of his hat, looking quite offended. It only lasts a second though before his mouth curls up in a smile. “Well, in that case.” the smile grows wider as Roger grabs his hat by the top and lifts it from his head. “I’ll just have to wear a new one, won’t I?”

Shanks stumbles as a heavy hand comes down on top of his head, eyes squeezing shut as something dips down over them. The hand lifts, and he pushes the brim of the hat up out of his face, feeling how his ears bend out under the sides of it as it settles on his head. “What are you waiting for, chore boys?” Roger asks, standing from his stool and heading for the door. “You’ve got packing to do.”

Next to him, Buggy gawks as Roger strides out the door. Shanks grins and grips the either side of the brim of his new hat, pulling it down around his ears. Starting tomorrow, they’re finally going to be Real Actual Pirates.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this makes the legacy hat Buggy's Fault. I'm not sure why I find this as funny as I do.
> 
> If you'd like to view the rest of the zine, all 36 pages of lovely art and fic can be yours for the low low price of Absolutely Free! Just go check out the PDF [**HERE**](https://mothersea-zine.tumblr.com/post/188770065842/motherseazinepdf) on tumblr or [**HERE**](https://twitter.com/mothersea_zine/status/1190809326765535232?s=21) on twitter, and enjoy~


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